Factors influencing the increase in glomerular filtration rate in the remaining kidney of transplant donors

Measurement of glomerular filtration rate (GFR) in 49 kidney donors on 259 occasions before and at varying periods after nephrectomy revealed that the predominant increase in GFR after nephrectomy occurs within three weeks. This initial percentage increment was not influenced by age, sex or GFR before nephrectomy. However, multiple-linear regression analysis of data derived from subsequent studies, performed up to four years after nephrectomy, indicates that there is a modest secondary increase which occurs subsequently and is inversely related to age, with time after nephrectomy and the GFR before nephrectomy also comprising significant variables. Analysis of concomitant creatinine and urea clearance data reveals that these parameters bear an inconstant relationship to true GFR, although they follow the same general trend.